Global Lead, Education Finance & Policy Innovation

Global Roles

Washington (District of Columbia)

On-site

USD 170,000 - 230,000

Full time

4 days ago

Be an early applicant

Get a reply from this employer

Your resume and cover letter, tailored to exactly what they’re hiring for.

Get past ATS filters

Job summary

World Bank Group seeks a Senior Education Finance Specialist to lead the Education Finance Platform, guiding policy, data, and operations globally. The role emphasizes analytical leadership, country engagement, capacity building, and knowledge management across education finance initiatives.

You will supervise the platform's work program, budget, and trust funds while coordinating with regional focal points and internal partners to advance education finance reform and financing strategies.

Qualifications

Advanced degree (PhD preferred) in economics, with a focus on public economics, macroeconomics or public finance, or a closely related field.
A minimum of eight years of relevant professional experience, including experience gained in a Ministry of Finance, a line ministry, the private sector, or an international organization.
Experience in a research institute or academia is acceptable where combined with exposure to public finance reform.
Demonstrated expertise in public expenditure and public finance analysis, including public expenditure or public finance reviews, fiscal sustainability analysis, medium-term expenditure frameworks, budget execution analysis or expenditure tracking, and a working command of the instruments used in this work.
Demonstrated ability to engage credibly with Ministries of Finance and macro-fiscal counterparts, including an understanding of fiscal frameworks and the budget cycle, and the ability to position a sector argument within a whole-of-budget conversation.
A track record of producing operational guidance that other teams use, such as methodologies, toolkits, guidance notes or diagnostic frameworks, as distinct from research outputs alone.
Background and expertise on the role of the private sector and mechanisms for catalyzing non-state capital.
Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with a track record of high-quality written outputs, including published analytical work.
Demonstrated experience in capacity building and training, including the design and delivery of curricula or learning programs for professional audiences.
Demonstrated combination of analytical rigor with practical, solution-oriented approaches, and an understanding of the political economy of reform in developing countries.
Track record of leading teams and delivering complex, multi-country tasks to deadline.
Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English, including the ability to present ideas persuasively and concisely to senior audiences.
Experience in the education sector, or a track record of work on the economics of education or education finance is desirable.
Experience with social sector expenditure analysis more broadly, including health or social protection, and with expenditure that spans more than one ministry is desirable.
Experience with non-state and private financing of public services, including public-private partnerships, household and employer financing, and outcome-based or blended instruments, and familiarity with private capital mobilization instruments such as guarantees and risk-sharing, ideally in the social sectors is desirable.
Experience with student loan design, payroll levies, training funds or other instruments used to finance higher education and skills is desirable.
Experience with financing data systems, databases or dashboards, and familiarity with the use of AI-enabled tools in analytical work is desirable.
Experience working in World Bank operations and in advisory services and analytics is desirable.
Knowledge of another World Bank official language is desirable.
Background across a range of country contexts, including by region, income level and fragility is desirable.
Energy and enthusiasm for community building, learning, knowledge sharing and mentoring.
Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to work flexibly across a range of assignments, manage competing demands and set priorities for self and others.
Strong interpersonal skills, client orientation and diplomatic skills, with a proven track record of working effectively in a multicultural environment.
High degree of tact, political awareness, sensitivity and discretion in dealing with internal and external clients, staff and managers at all levels.
Strong proclivity for teamwork, including an open and collegial working style.
Willingness to travel.

Responsibilities

Lead the WBG Education Finance Platform, including its work program, budget and trust fund resources.
Serve as Global Lead for education finance for the Department, providing intellectual and technical leadership and acting as the senior technical voice on education finance with internal and external partners.
Convene the education finance Community of Practice and support the network of regional focal points.
Build and maintain working relationships across the Bank Group, including with Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment on macro-fiscal analysis, domestic resource mobilization and the Public Finance Review framework; with Governance on public financial management and fiscal decentralization; with the Chief Economist for People in DEC on private provision and financing; and with Social Policy and IFC on higher education and skills.
Position the World Bank Group in the global dialogue on education finance, and represent the Department in internal and external forums.
Lead the revision of the Education Public Expenditure Review Guidelines for the Public Finance Review context, delivered as a published report and maintained thereafter as a living document.
Develop the accompanying operational toolkit of analytical modules, data templates, benchmarking approaches, reform options and country examples, designed to integrate education into existing Public Finance Review and governance diagnostics rather than to replace them.
Ensure the guidance addresses fiscal sustainability, financing adequacy, spending efficiency and equity, public financial management, fiscal decentralization, and non-state and complementary financing, and that it is modular enough to support anything from a short education section within a broader Public Finance Review to a comprehensive education-focused review.
Extend the guidance beyond basic education to early childhood development financing, which runs through health and social protection as well as education budgets, and to the financing of higher education, TVET and industry-based training.
Develop guidance and tools on how public financing can be structured to leverage private capital in education and skills, including public-private partnerships, guarantees and risk-sharing, results- and outcome-based financing, student finance and employer co-financing.
Lead and contribute to global, regional and country analytical work on education finance, including the completion and publication of outstanding analytical papers.
Work with the regions to select countries from the existing Public Finance Review pipeline, and lead or co-lead the education component of Public Finance Reviews in selected countries.
Ensure analysis translates into action, linking diagnostic findings to recommendations in Public Finance Reviews, prior actions in Development Policy Operations, the design of Investment Project Financing and Program-for-Results operations, and inputs to Country Partnership Frameworks, Country Economic Updates and Country Growth and Jobs Reports.
Participate in Bank missions and engage in policy dialogue with Ministries of Finance, Ministries of Education, development partners and other stakeholders.
Provide technical support to regional and country teams on education finance within analytical and operational work, as determined in periodic work planning.
Lead the consolidation of the dataset into a global dashboard hosted on Data360, improving the access, reliability and comparability of available data, and develop standardized country education financing profiles.
Lead the development of AI-enabled analytical tools that help teams assemble financing profiles, benchmark countries and prepare analytical inputs.
Agree definitions and data sources with partners inside and outside the Bank so that effort is not duplicated.
Design and deliver a core curriculum on education finance in the Public Finance Review context, covering the fiscal framing, the language and calendar of Ministries of Finance, and how to position education within a whole-of-budget conversation.
Deliver training to task teams, including regional clinics run alongside live Public Finance Reviews, and produce short, accessible reference materials for operational use.
Lead regular reporting on the state of education finance, building on the Education Finance Watch series.
Ensure education finance knowledge products are curated and accessible through the Bank's knowledge platforms, and mentor staff across the Department and the regions in deepening their expertise.